Water-borne activities are extremely popular. Such activities take place in rivers, lakes, oceans and just about anywhere a suitable body of water can be found. These activities include those performed both under and above the water surface. People spend a lot of time engaged in underwater activities. These activities include underwater survey, scallop and clam searching, spear fishing, sand dollar harvesting, sightseeing, photography, acrobatic play, etc. Typically, a person engaged in underwater activities wears a mask and either scuba diving equipment or a snorkel. The scuba diving equipment permits a person to stay underwater for an extended period of time while a snorkel is easy to use, requires little training and does not present the risks that occur with scuba gear.
People engaged in underwater activities want to maneuver easily. For instance, when a clam bed is seen off to one side, the person will want to get there quickly. Underwater maneuvering devices are very handy to such a person. Underwater maneuvering devices generally come in two types, underwater propulsion vehicles which are motorized propeller driven craft and are generally battery-powered, and passive underwater maneuvering devices such as towed by a boat to provide a user directional control while underwater.
Passive aquatic maneuvering devices are known in the art. One example of these prior inventions is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,483 by Scott, Jr. The Scott, Jr. device is a relatively large flat body member with a submerging and surfacing vane, as well as rolling vanes. Complex bevel gear controlled handgrips provide the necessary movement to the particular vanes. The device permits a user to surface and submerge with relative ease. Furthermore, a user can roll or partially roll the device and himself. U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,955 by Manfield discloses a two-person underwater sled similar to the Scott device. While the Scott device provides substantial vertical directional control for a user, it has many moving parts, and appears to be relatively complex and expensive to manufacture. Its twin hand controls require substantial coordination and skill for proper use. Furthermore, the twin non-centered controls require the user to use both hands for proper control. The user lacks a free hand for such activities such as scallop harvesting or photography. The Scott device also lacks the ability to provide substantial horizontal directional control.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,485 by Ball discloses an underwater maneuvering device that is unnecessarily large and bulky. The base member is much larger than is required for all but the most buoyant of divers, and there are two vertical fins adding to the complexity of its manufacture. It provides only limited one hand maneuverability, which impedes nostril pinching for middle ear pressure equalization as well as other activities discussed above.